Brisbane: A Catholic school in Australia has banned a "curing homosexuality seminar" set to be held at its campus, sparking claims of discrimination, a report said on Friday.
Brisbane Catholic Education said St Columban's College in Queensland "immediately" withdrew permission for its hall to be used by the Miracle Christian Centre when they realised what the meeting was about.
"Permission was given by the school, on the basis that the nature of the meeting would need to be in line with the college's Catholic Christian values," the school was quoted as saying by the Brisbane Courier-Mail.
Principal Ann Rebgetz reportedly claimed the group deliberately withheld information about the nature of the event.
But Miracle Christian Centre president Dorian Ballard accused Catholic Education of discrimination and said the matter was with their lawyers.
"We are not homophobic, many of us have come out of the homosexual lifestyle," he said.
"We are not afraid of homosexuals; we love them, we've ministered to them for years.”
"This topic is always up for debate. It's great to hear a lot of different views in the broad spectrum and we have been silenced, we have been discriminated against."
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, April 01, 2011, 14:19